Post-conviction
John Duddy died in Parkhurst prison on 8 February 1981.
Witney was released in 1991, causing some controversy as he had not served the full thirty years recommended by the judge, and was thought to be the first adult to be released early on licence after killing a police officer. He was beaten to death with a hammer by his flatmate, a heroin addict, in August 1999 at his home in Horfield, Bristol. Police ruled out any connection between his murder and the events of 1966.
It was reported in February 2009 that Harry Roberts hoped to be freed from prison within months. After serving 42 years, and having already completed the first stage of a parole board hearing, he believed that his release was imminent. Roberts hoped a final hearing would find that, at 72, he was no longer a risk to the public. By this time, he had already served 12 years more than the minimum tariff recommended by his trial judge, who at the time of sentencing told Roberts that it was unlikely that any future Home Secretary would "ever think fit to show mercy by releasing you on licence... This is one of those cases in which the sentence of imprisonment for 'life' may well be treated as meaning exactly what it says." In July 2009, the parole board determined that Roberts still posed a public risk and should continue to serve time at Littlehey prison in Cambridgeshire. The decision followed newspaper reports that Roberts had orchestrated a five-year campaign of intimidation against an elderly woman who complained about his behaviour when he worked at the same animal sanctuary she did while he was on day release.
Read more about this topic: Shepherd's Bush Murders